Privilege
by NightMage
Summary: The team searches for 14 year old Carolynn Casper. Business as usual... but the team is hitting dead ends everywhere, while Samantha begins to receive anonymous flowers and strange notes. AN: Reedited, with new scenes added!
1. Missing: Carolynn Casper

Title: Privilege

Author: NightMage

Rating: maybe PG13, to be safe.

Summary: The team gets very, very frustrated with doctor-patient privilege! And Sam deals with a problem of her own. My very first M/S fic. Please R&R!

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Chapter 1  
_MISSING: CAROLYNN CASPER_

Martin examined the photograph Jack was now fastening to the whiteboard. Carolynn Casper, age 14, had gone missing from her home in one of the city's slums on June 2nd. Her dad woke up, and she was gone. Used to her comings and goings, Mr. Casper hadn't reported his daughter's disappearance until three full days later, when she didn't show up for her photo shoot in _Live Now!_ magazine.

Yeah, this girl was a model. Martin could see it in the picture. Long black lashes framed baby blue eyes, red lips curved in a sultry expression; her skin shined. Long blonde hair floated down around her face. Then again, Martin thought, he definitely couldn't judge her shallowness by long blonde hair. He glanced over at the woman sitting two chairs down from him, next to Vivian. Samantha Spade had to be the most complicated person he knew.

Martin mentally slapped himself on the forehead. He'd done it again. He'd started thinking about Samantha and had missed the beginning of his boss's speech. That was happening a lot lately. Martin sighed, and tried to listen to what Jack was saying.

"...was last seen arguing with her best friend, Cai Sanford. Martin, Danny, I want you two to talk to Cai, see what she knows. Sam, Viv, interview the father. Whoever finishes first gets to join me in taking on _Live Now!_ later." Jack paused, and looked each of his team members in the eye. "I know it's been over seventy-two hours already. Odds are not good. Let's move."

Martin grabbed his coat and glanced around, waiting for Danny. He was glad for Samantha. This long after the shooting, and she still ended up with mostly paperwork. It would be good for her to get out in the field again... Now Martin really did slap his forehead. He was doing it _again_.

Danny glanced at him oddly. "You ready?"

_Focus_, Martin told himself. "Yeah, let's go."

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Danny glanced over at Martin, his partner, from the passenger side of Martin's black Solara. They had only met two years or so ago, but they were the best of friends, and Danny could always tell when something was on a friend's mind. And Martin had been unusually silent the past few days. Danny resisted the urge to smile and shake his head. He bet he knew what it was about. He hadn't missed Martin's staring during the briefing. Samantha was Danny's other best friend, and both of them were happy that way. But Martin's interest, he knew, was more romantic.

"Look, if it's that important to you, talk to her."

Martin shot him a dirty glance.

"No, I mean it, man. Ask her out."

Martin tried to ignore him, then sighed. "You can't just ask someone like Samantha Spade to go out with you."

"Why not?"

"You just _don't_. I mean, why would she want to go out with me, alright, I'm the rookie here."

"I know her better than you do. She may surprise you." Danny's voice took on a sing-song tone. " You won't know till you ask."

"Just because you two have worked together longer doesn't mean you know her better."

"But I do anyway."

Martin shook his head. "Okay, fine. Maybe you do. But she might not be over Jack yet.

Danny grinned. "A lame excuse, and you know it."

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Danny looked up at the old, run-down apartment house Martin was currently parking in front of. "Great place to raise a teenage girl," he commented sarcastically.

"I know," Martin responded, "It's not exactly the Ritz, is it?" The two friends got out of the car and went into the building.

"This is it." Martin pointed to the number above the apartment door. "Room 117." He knocked firmly on the old rotting wood that served as a door; there was no response. "Mr. Sanford? FBI! Open up!"

The agents could hear heavy footsteps inside; the door slowly creaked open a crack. A dirty, scruffy-looking, big-bellied man looked out with a scowl. "Whata ya want?"

Danny stepped forward. "Mr. Sanford, we need to talk to Cai."

Mr. Sanford sneered and turned. "Jus' a sec."

The door closed in their faces. From inside the apartment, Danny and Martin could hear the big man yelling. "What 'choo got yerself inta this time! Don' tell me nut'in' girl, ya got the bloody coppers at my door! Well, ya better find out!"

The door opened again and a girl of about fourteen was pushed out of the room to run smack into Danny. Then the door shut, and the agents could here locks being pushed into place on the other side of the door.

Danny set the girl back on her feet, and didn't let go of her arm until she had regained her balance. He peered at her; she stared at the floor. "Cai Sanford?" The girl nodded miserably. "Look, you're not in trouble, we just need to ask you some questions." No response. "It's about your friend, Carolynn Casper."

Cai looked up, startled. "What?"

"She went missing three days ago."

Cai looked upset at this news, but not necessarily surprised. Noticing this, Danny prodded, "Do you know where she might have gone?"

"No."

"Okay, when did you last see her?"

"Uh... About a week ago. We were, um, shopping."

Danny, noticing her hesitation, decided that shop-_lifting_ was more like it. He also knew there was an eye-witness saying Cai and Casper had argued three days ago. "Are you lying to me?"

"What? I... No."

"I think you are."

"No."

Martin leaned down toward her. "Look, we can do this here or at the office, it's your choice."

Cai lifted her chin, but her eyes remained on the dirty tiled flooring. She fiddled with her sleeve and smoothed down her maroon and gold shirt, before finally meeting Danny's gaze and staying very purposely silent.

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Vivian didn't think much of the apartment house that David Casper and his daughter lived in. She didn't trust the stairs to hold, so she stepped over them and in through the lockless door. Samantha followed her lead.

There were no windows in the drab, gray hallway she now stood in. The little light that illuminated the place came from dull, bare bulbs dangling from short cords overhead. Their glare bathed everything in a sickly yellow that almost made Vivian want to throw up.

The door to apartment 2B didn't have a lock either. Still, Vivian knocked before calling, "FBI!" and stepping inside.

There were two people inside, a young man slouched in a chair and another man glaring at him.

Samantha stepped forward. "David Casper?"

The man didn't take his eyes from the youth. "Yes?"

"Agents Spade and Johnson, we need to ask you a few questions about your daughter's disappearance."

"I don't know anything about it. Ask _him_. He knows."

Vivian looked at the young man, who glared right back up at Mr. Casper. "I di'n't _do_ nothin', man!" he protested.

"Alright, look."

Both men broke their staring contest to glance Vivian's way. "We're not accusing anyone, here. Mr. Casper, would you please step into the hall with me for a minute." It wasn't a request. Shooting one last dirty look the young man's way, Mr. Casper followed Vivian out.

Viv closed the door behind them.

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The lady gingerly took the seat across from him. He bet she was hoping it wouldn't fall apart under her. It held. She looked up at him. He was watching her warily, so she started the conversation. "I'm Agent Spade from the Missing Persons Unit, and you are…?"

He glanced at her suspiciously before answering, "Name's Zar."

Agent Spade looked at him skeptically. "Zar."

"Yeah, short for Lizard." Zar thought that if it hadn't been rude, the lady in front of him probably would have rolled her eyes. Maybe Agent Spade was still a girl, then. She actually looked to be about his age. Then he chided himself. He refused to fall for a cop!

"Well, Zar, do you mind telling me what your _birth_ name is?"

Now he scowled at her. What did it matter what his birth name was? He hated it, and never used it. But then again, his first rule of life on the street was to never draw attention to yourself. And mostly, that meant don't upset a cop. Okay, fine. What did it matter if she knew his birth name? He'd never actually been _caught_ thieving, never actually reported for underage drinking, never actually busted for drug dealing. His name wasn't on record. It wouldn't help this girl-cop at all. "Nigel Simmons."

Agent Spade scribbled something in her notebook. "How do you know David Casper, Mr. Simmons?"

Zar smirked. "I'm Lynny's boyfriend. I'm twenty-three," he added, watching her reaction closely. Respectable people, like this agent seemed to be, often blanched at the thought of the nine-year difference in him and Carolynn's ages. This girl, though, Agent Spade, didn't bat an eyelash, which was disappointing. He suddenly wondered if _she_ had ever dated someone almost a decade older than she was. "You can call me Nigel," he suddenly blurted. Now where had that come from?

She glanced up at him, and he couldn't read her carefully guarded expression. "Samantha."

He grinned. "Sam Spade?"

She flashed him an obviously fake smile, then continued flipping through her notebook. When she had settled on a page, she said, "Got anything to help me find your girlfriend?"

"I'm the one who saw 'em arguing, Lynny an' Cai." He pointed out the window behind her. "Through that window. They were on the other side of Jefferson Street."

The agent, Samantha Spade, turned and glanced out the window, then back at him. "You hear anything?"

"Nah, they were too far away, but - " He stopped. What was he doing? To think what he had almost blurted! "But, uh, they looked real angry."

She studied him closely, and her mouth curled up on one side. "You're not telling me something," she said in an almost sing-song voice.

How much of the truth did she need to know? How much could he tell without getting in trouble? He thought for a moment, then said, "Well, I did see Lynny go into the phone booth down there, after Cai had left. She started dialin' a number, but hung up 'fore she finished. Then she left. 'S all I know."

"Why didn't you tell the police this earlier?"

"I forgot." He tried to make it sound as believable as he could, and thought he might have succeeded.

Agent Samantha Spade stood up. "If you 'remember' anything else, give me a call." She handed him a small white card. Her business card. He looked down at it, then pocketed it.

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Vivian again led the way through the narrow door as she and Samantha left the apartment house.

"Amazing," Vivian muttered.

"What?"

"How little that man knows about his daughter."

"Mmm. Well, at least we have something." They did. Armed with the information Nigel Simmons had provided, they had managed to bully the owner of the drug store down the street into giving them video footage of the phone booth three days back, from the store's security cameras.

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	2. At Live Now!

Title: Privilege

Author: NightMage

Rating: maybe PG13, to be safe.

Summary: The team gets very, very frustrated with doctor-patient privilege! And Sam deals with a problem of her own. My very first M/S fic.

NOTES:

Hi, I know that nothing in the summary has actually happened yet, but I promise, it will! Anyway, this chapter's shorter than the first one, sorry, I do have most of the rest planned out but I haven't written it yet! Also, if this isn't how magazine photo shoots and stuff work, too bad. That's why I'm the author ;-p

Thanks to everyone who reviewed, it means so much to me!

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Chapter 2  
_AT_ _**LIVE NOW!**_

Vivian drove on the way back to the office, which gave Samantha needed time to think. Okay, first she had to organize the facts. What did she know? Carolynn Casper was missing. Her 23-year-old boyfriend claimed to have seen Carolynn and Cai Sanford arguing on the DoD, but Cai denied it. _Well, the videos should help._ If the cameras had caught Carolynn at the phone booth like Nigel Simmons – _'Zar,'_ Sam thought sarcastically to herself – had said, then the rest of Mr. Simmons's story was probably also true. But that led to more questions. For instance, why was Cai lying? Samantha sighed.

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Viv glanced over at her colleague. "You okay?"

"Yeah, fine. I just... I just don't know what happened to this girl."

Viv reached over and rested her hand over Samantha's. "Hey, we only just started this case. Who knows what we'll turn up?" She had noticed, through the years, that Samantha always seemed to get more emotionally involved with cases that had to do with teenage girls.

"Yeah, I know." But Samantha continued to stare out the window.

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Jack looked up from the paperwork on his desk at the sound of the main office door opening. Sam came in first, closely followed by Vivian. The blonde agent pulled her jacket off and slung it over the back of her desk chair, but her coworker immediately headed toward their boss. Jack stood up and waited as Vivian walked into his office.

"Hey, Viv. You and Sam busy?"

"It can wait." At his questioning look, she explained, "Video surveillance, phone booth on Jefferson. Why, what'd you have in mind?"

"Danny and Martin are still talking to Cai, but she's holding out on us. You two up to taking on _Live Now!_?"

"Sure, let's go."

Jack watched as Vivian went to tell Sam. At least, he meant to, but somehow he found himself completely overlooking Viv.

There she was. Her blonde hair was pulled back, but wisps had escaped the band and fell to frame her face.

Jack shook his head. He couldn't do this. 'They' were over – he had gone back to Maria.

Jack made his feet move. He walked out of his office and joined Sam and Viv.

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Sam had purposely gone into the _Live Now!_ building last – Jack had gone in first. Now, she was glad. Hanging at the back of their group as they were escorted to the manager's office, she avoided most of the curious looks shot their way. And she could also look around without being too obvious about it. That was her specialty; people revealed more when they didn't know they were being watched.

"I can't do this, Richard!"

Sam glanced over to see a skinny blue-eyed brunette girl sitting on a stool in front of a bright red backdrop, pouting prettily at her photographer.

"I can't do this! I'm fat and ugly and I look awful in _red_!" The girl pounded the backdrop with one fist, and tugged at her fake ruby-encrusted gown with the other.

Sam looked away, rolling her eyes, as the photographer hurried forward to calm the girl.

They had arrived in the office, but Sam continued to look around. Let Viv and Jack interview the guy; she would rather study the place itself.

Suddenly, she felt someone grab her hand. She turned back to the group, startled, as she was pulled up in front of Jack and Vivian.

The manager was short and mousey-looking, and shaking the hand he had grabbed ecstatically. "Very nice to meet you!" He dropped her hand and took a step back, looking her up and down, and Sam hid a blush. She opened her mouth to say something, but before she could, he was babbling again. "Yes, I think red is definitely your color. Brick maybe, or something lighter – oh! The deep rose set from Ruby Jewelers is due in today! I suppose Moricia might be upset, it was supposed to be hers, but no matter. Now I just need to find a free photographer-"

Jack cleared his throat as Samantha bit back a laugh, finally realizing: this man thought she was here to become a model. She supposed she should consider that a complement.

Jack stepped in front of her, glaring at the man. "Excuse me, we're _FBI_. I," he flashed his badge, "am agent Jack Malone. This is agents Spade," – he gestured behind him – "and Johnson. We need to ask you some questions about Carolynn Casper."

"Carrie? Oh, I'm sorry, she hates it when I call her that. Carolynn, she's a touchy one, you know?"

Vivian stepped forward. "No, we don't; enlighten us."

The man shrugged. "Like, she could come in one day smiling and laughing like she was president. Then, someone accidentally steps on her foot and she's shouting like crazy, mad as hell, then you tell her she's getting her hair mussed and she totally collapses in on herself. Like, mega-sad." He paused, and looked again at Samantha. "You sure you don't want a job?"

Sam rolled her eyes – she felt like she was doing that a lot lately – and flashed him her famous fake smile. "Ihave a job, thanks." She turned to Jack. "You and Viv can handle this. I'm going to look around, 'kay?"

Jack nodded. As Sam wandered away, she heard the manager call after, "It's quite a nice set, and we got it at a bargain price - !" She shook her head and turned down the hallway they had come from, out of sight of the mousey manager.

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"Hey." Jack moved himself into the manager's line of sight, effectively blocking Samantha. "What did you say your name was?"

"Hmm? Oh, Conway."

"Mr. Conway, how many issues of your magazine do you sell in a year?"

Conway scratched the back of his neck and glanced away. "Well, you know, enough to stay in business."

"Uh-huh. The girls ever have trouble? Stalkers, jealous boyfriends, threats, phone calls, anything?"

"Well, sometimes, but – "

"Carolynn in particular?" Vivian interrupted.

"She got her share of fan mail, but nothing that upset her, I don't think." Conway shook his head. "Um, no. No one I can think of. Her boyfriend hung around sometimes, what's his name – something reptilian. But nothing that worried me."

"Okay, that's good." Jack glanced at Vivian and continued, "You mentioned mood swings. Is it possible that Carolynn is on something?"

Conway shrugged and looked away again. "Hey now, that's her business. What the girls do in their spare time is their own business."

Jack smiled coldly. "Yeah, I thought something like that."

"This place is up to regulation, you know, the inspectors came just last – "

"I'm sure they did. Thank you for your time, Mr. Conway. Stick around for a few days."

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Sam was not particularly awed by what she saw around her. Everything from smoking to anorexia. Lovely place.

And very, very sad.

Suddenly, she found herself being assaulted by redness and tiny, red-nailed fists. Samantha caught the flailing wrists and slammed the girl against the wall, wondering what in the world had provoked the attack.

It was the blue-eyed brunette who didn't like red. She pouted up at Samantha, who was staring at her. "That set is _mine_," she said fiercely.

Ah, Samantha thought. So this was Moricia. She released the girl and let her move away from the wall. "If I were you, I'd be more worried about being arrested for assault of a federal officer."

"Moricia!" Moricia's cameraman came jogging around the corner. The exact opposite of his charge, he was broad-shouldered, green-eyed, and so blonde that his hair was almost white. "Don't get your-" he stopped at the sight of Sam standing there. "-your dress dirty," he finished. Then to Samantha he said, "Who're you?"

Samantha didn't get a chance to answer. Before she could say anything, Moricia had mouthed "Bitch!" in her direction, grabbed her photographer's arm, and both of them disappeared around the corner.

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	3. Of Phone Calls and Flowers

Title: Privilege

Author: NightMage

Rating: maybe PG13, to be safe.

Summary: The team gets very, very frustrated with doctor-patient privilege! And Sam deals with a problem of her own. My very first M/S fic. Please R&R!

NOTES:

Thanx to you all for waiting patiently! This chapter will start to follow the summary, I think.

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Chapter 3  
_OF PHONE CALLS AND FLOWERS_

Martin stood outside the interrogation room watching Danny try to convince Cai to talk.

"Cai, an eyewitness places you on the corner of Jefferson, three days ago, arguing with Carolynn Casper, who's now missing." Danny leaned forward on the table for emphasis. "We need to know why."

Cai Sanford was silent.

Danny sighed and sat down across from the girl. Martin smiled, recognizing that his friend had decided to change tactics.

"Anything you say could help us find your friend. Carolynn could be in danger, and the sooner she's found, the better. _Anything_ you know..."

Cai looked at him.

"It could be vital to the investigation."

She hesitated. "What makes you think I know anything?"

"Well, you were arguing about _something_."

"We never had an argument. Everything was fine!"

Martin shook his head and turned. He needed a break before he strangled someone. Danny could deal with this for now. He turned, and headed for the coffee room.

He got there just as Vivian was leaving, smiling about something. "What's up with you?" he called after her.

"Ask Samantha!" came the reply.

Martin spun and looked into the room, and his heart skipped a beat. There she was, and no one else. It would just be the two of them. _Okay, Martin. Walk into the room. It's easy, just move your feet._

"Hey, Samantha."

She turned, holding a half-full mug. "Hey."

"So, what was Viv laughing about?"

"Oh." Samantha smiled. "Nothing."

Now Martin grinned too, sensing a story. "C'mon."

"Well, we were at _Live Now!_, you know, and there was a – a mix-up."

"Out with it."

So she told him.

Martin burst out laughing.

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Samantha sat at her desk watching one grainy black-and-white blur enter the Jefferson phone booth after another. According to Nigel Simmons's story, Carolynn Casper should enter the booth any minute now. She watched, amused, as one man kicked the side of the booth in frustration; obviously his call wasn't getting through. This could be, Sam thought, because he had forgotten to insert his 50¢ before dialing. The man threw the phone down and left. Then a young girl entered the booth. Samantha froze the tape. "Viv."

Vivian walked over. "Did you get it?"

"Yeah, hold a sec, I'm gonna zoom in." They watched Carolynn Casper walk in, begin to dial, then, seeming to change her mind, she hung up the phone and walked out.

"She didn't even take her money back."

"Yeah. Try and slow it down." Samantha complied, and Carolynn entered the frame again, this time in slow motion. Sam grabbed a pen and notepad as Vivian called out the number Carolynn was dialing. "668-5. That's it before she hangs up. I'll try and match it with someone she might know."

Sam nodded. "'Kay." She turned back to her desk, intending to turn the screen off. Then she saw something out of the corner of her eye that made her glance back up at the screen before she hit the power button. "Hey, Viv?"

Vivian didn't look up from the list of numbers on her computer screen. "Yeah?"

"Come look at something."

Vivian got up and peered at the girl now entering the booth. "That's Cai Sanford!"

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Vivian looked away from her computer screen, blinked, then returned to scrolling through phone numbers. Almost half of them seemed to begin with 668 – very close-knit group of friends, Viv thought. 668-9212... 668-7934... By the time Viv had finished, she had two different possibilities: 668-5413, and 668-5708. These belonged to a Channel Garver and a Rex Tanner. Viv entered both names into the main search engine and waited.

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Danny, still in the interrogation room with Cai, looked up at the sound of the phone ringing. "'Scuse me," he said to a still unrelenting Cai, and went to answer it. "Yeah."

"Danny."

"Samantha?"

"Cai made a phone call from the Jefferson booth right after Carolynn left. See if you can get her to tell you what it was about."

Danny glanced at the girl watching him from across the table. "I'll try, but I highly doubt it." He hung up and went back to the table. "You want to tell me what that call was about?"

The response was quick and quiet. "No."

"Alright, can you at least tell me who you were calling?

Cai looked away. She seemed to be considering the question.

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Samantha slammed her pen down on her desk. No matter what she did, no matter how much she zoomed in or slowed it down or tried to reduce fuzziness, she could not see what numbers Cai was dialing. The girl hunched over, from pain or from not wanting to be seen, Samantha couldn't tell. Maybe both?

"Samantha Spade?"

Samantha turned to see a man she'd only come across a few times in the lobby of the FBI building, standing in front of her holding a vase of flowers. She glanced at his face, confused. "Yes?"

"These came for you at the front desk."

"...Uh, thank you. Just... put them... somewhere."

He deposited the flowers next to her desk, nodded to her, and left.

Samantha stared at the bright pink bouquet beside her foot. There didn't seem to be a card.

"Sam?"

Samantha jerked around. Jack stood in front of her.

"Uh, hi. Yes?"

"Secret admirer?"

"You jealous?"

"Mm. I need an update. Viv tossed something about two girls in a phone booth at me and went back to her computer."

Samantha nodded, nudged the whole big floral monstrosity under her desk in a vain attempt to hide it, and turned to tell Jack their findings.

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Vivian watched the screen impatiently. SEARCHING... SEARCHING... 2 MATCH(ES) FOUND. Viv leaned forward. The first set of results was unremarkable: Rex Tanner, age 49, unemployed. The only remotely interesting thing about him was that he was $59,200 in debt. The man was a gambler.

Vivian minimized the window and turned her attention to Channel Garver's results: Channel M. Garver, age 53, priest... Vivian stared. Missing... since three days ago.

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	4. The Shrink

Title: Privilege

Author: NightMage

Rating: maybe PG13, to be safe.

Summary: The team gets very, very frustrated with doctor-patient privilege! And Sam deals with a problem of her own. My very first M/S fic. Please R&R!

NOTES:

Again, thanx to everyone who R&Red. I know, my summary still doesn't make sense... I hope to get to it in this chapter, but I don't know if I will because I haven't written it yet. That sounds stupid, but oh well. And, I'm sorry if some of the official stuff isn't acurate, deal with it **:-**p

**Spikey the Neon BlowFish**: all I can say is, I hope it stays with you on rainy days.

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Chapter 4  
_THE SHRINK_

"If I tell you who I was calling –"

Danny interrupted Cai. "Oh, so now you _were_ on that street corner."

"_If I tell you_, can I leave?"

Danny hesitated. Obviously, she didn't realize that without probable cause, she could leave whenever she wanted to. For a second, Danny struggled – would it be right to take advantage of her ignorance? He mentally scolded himself. Hell, yeah. Whatever got the job done, as long as it didn't hurt anybody.

"Sure, if it's true."

"...I was calling a friend of my... mother's."

"Does this friend have a name?"

"Yeah... Nancy."

"Nancy what?"

Cai tugged a stray thread out of her shirt sleeve. "I don't know.

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Martin sat down at his desk, started shifting through his paperwork, and sighed.

"Hey."

Martin looked up. Danny stood in front of him, with his coat on. "You going somewhere?"

"Driving Cai Sanford home." Danny nodded his head toward the door. Martin looked over and saw the girl standing there self-consciously, waiting.

"Listen." Danny leaned down over Martin's desk. "Cai says she was calling a friend of her mom's from that phone booth, a Nancy someone. Now, Cai's mother's name is Rissa Thompson, and, according to the file, she walked out when Cai was three. Apparently she still visits. I ran her through the search engine– she lives at 915 Kennan Road, Wooddale. Do me a favor?"

"Run over to Wooddale and ask Mom what Nancy's last name is?"

"You got it. Oh, and," Danny glanced at him slyly. "Samantha doesn't look too busy at the moment. Maybe you could invite her to come with you." Smirking, he turned and left with Cai.

Martin scowled at Danny's retreating back, then glanced over at Samantha. She was staring at a huge vase of screaming-pink flowers, which was sticking out from under her desk. _What? Where did those come from?_ Oh well, no matter. Martin steeled himself, then walked over.

"Hey, Samantha."

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Some old lady was looking at him funny. Maybe she could see that he was not actually talking to anyone on the phone. Damn. He probably looked pretty stupid standing with a broken phone to his ear and staring across the street at the FBI building. Had been for an hour or so. But he had to see her. God, she was gorgeous.

Oh, hell, there she was now! She was coming out of the building! Maybe he'd run over and introduce himself. No, no wait, a man was coming out after her. Who was he? Boyfriend? No, he couldn't be, she couldn't have a boyfriend already. No, it must be a colleague, a fellow agent.

They were getting into a car. License plate? FTZGERLD. Must be a custom plate. His or hers? Well, he'd find out when they went home for the night.

That old lady was still looking at him suspiciously. He guessed that was his cue to leave.

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"I haven't done anything illegal." Rissa Thompson glared at the two agents on her doorstep and began to close the door in their faces.

Samantha stepped forward. "Ms. Thompson, it's about your daughter."

Ms. Thompson hesitated, then spat, "Whatever it is, Carl put her up to it."

Samantha continued, "This has nothing to do with your ex-husband. We need to know about your friend - Nancy?"

Now Ms. Thompson pulled open the door. "What's she got to do with Cai?" She demanded.

Martin backed up a little from where Sam had started. "Ms. Thompson, I'm agent Fitzgerald, this is Agent Spade, FBI. A friend of your daughter's, Carolynn Casper, has gone missing. Now, there's something Cai's not telling us, and it may be important. She made a call to someone she claims is a friend of yours, a Nancy Someone."

Martin stopped. Ms. Thompson looked confused. "Well, Nancy Dawson, I suppose. She's an official shrink, but she listens to me for free. And you know, with Carl and all..."

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SEARCHING... SEARCHING... MATCH FOUND. Nancy Dawson, age 38, psychiatrist, Terracotta Road, Building 19, Floor 7. Samantha went to tell Martin.

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"You can go in now." The secretary pointed to the door, and went back to her computer. Martin and Sam stood up and entered the psychiatrist's office.

Nancy Dawson rose to meet them as they walked in. "Hello, take a seat. I was told you were from the FBI? Is there a problem?"

Samantha cut right to the chase. "Cai Sanford called you from a payphone on Jefferson three days ago; could you tell us what that call was about?

"What is this concerning?"

"A friend of Cai's, a Carolynn Casper, went missing the same day," Martin explained briefly. "Cai is hiding something that could be important."

Nancy Dawson sighed and shifted some papers on her desk. "Well, I would love to help you, but unfortunately I'm not allowed to disclose anything my client and I have discussed."

Samantha leaned forward. "Ms. Dawson, anything you know could be vital to the investigation."

Martin blinked. Danny had said the exact same thing to Cai.

Ms. Dawson shook her head. "I'm sorry, I can't help you."

Samantha grimaced, then thought of something. "So, Cai Sanford is a paying patient? This isn't just a favor for her mother?"

Ms. Dawson looked uncomfortable. "Yes..."

"Who pays? Rissa?"

"Um, well..." She cleared her throat. "Actually, I'm not sure I should divulge the source. But yes, if you must know, Cai Sanford's sessions are payed for."

-----------------------------------------------------


	5. Fire and Brimstone

Title: Privilege

Author: NightMage

Rating: maybe PG13, to be safe.

Summary: The team gets very, very frustrated with doctor-patient privilege! And Sam deals with a problem of her own. My very first M/S fic.

-----------------------------------------------------

Chapter 5  
_FIRE-AND-BRIMSTONE_

"Alright, what have we got?" The team sat around the conference table in the office the next morning, trying to make sure there was nothing they had missed.

Martin began. "We know Carolynn Casper went missing four days ago, on June 2, from an apartment shared with her father and possibly her boyfriend, probably after arguing with friend Cai Sanford, and after almost calling a priest who is now also missing," he reeled off.

Danny continued, "We know Cai Sanford won't admit to the argument, but does admit to calling a psychiatrist from the same phone booth as Carolynn Casper _after_ Carolynn Casper, and said shrink will not be helping us."

Vivian's turn. "We know that Father Channel Garver went missing the same day as Carolynn Casper, which is probably a connection, but may not be. We also know Cai Sanford and Carolynn Casper's activities may not be entirely legal. Strong suspicion of drug use, possibility of shoplifting." Viv looked over at Danny for confirmation, and he nodded. "If she is on something, it could have gotten her into trouble."

"Or killed," Danny added.

"We know Carolynn Casper has a lousy father and a lousy job," Samantha finished up, "and a lousy manager. It's possible that she was attacked or kidnapped by an obsessed fan of her magazine photos, but so far nothing supports that."

"All in all," Jack concluded, "We got nothing."

-----------------------------------------------------

There was a vase of flowers on Andrew Carter's desk when he finally got to work. He stared at it, confused, until he noticed the writing on the white envelope next to it: Samantha Spade. Oh. More stuff for him to deliver to the blonde chic three floors up. This did not improve his mood, which was already running low because of the two trains and the detour that had made him very late for work. He had enough to catch up on, without delivering love notes to someone with a better job than his.

-----------------------------------------------------

"Vivian." Jack turned to face her. "I want you on the Garver Case. Danny, you too. Visit his church, ask around, find out what you can. Martin, Sam, stay with the original case, we need more. Maybe revisit some of the friends and family, someone has to know something."

"Oh, someone definitely knows something," Martin commented dryly. "That doesn't mean they're going to tell us."

Jack ignored him. "Try the neighbors, they might have seen something. Can I help you?" This last comment was directed to the man from the lobby, who was standing in the doorway. (_Andrew something_? Sam thought, focusing on the less important – and less embarrassing.) The man was holding a huge vase of flowers, and looking very grumpy. _Shit_, thought Sam.

"Samantha Spade?" The man asked tonelessly. _Yes, definitely not in a good mood_. Everyone turned to stare at Sam, who ignored them all and gestured vaguely toward her desk. "Yeah, just... under there."

The man turned and looked at the first floral bouquet, which was still stuffed under Sam's desk. "There's no room," he said flatly.

"I... okay, wherever."

The man plunked the vase down right there in the doorway, turned, and left.

Sam turned to look at her coworkers. "What?" she challenged.

Danny turned back to the open file in front of him with a little amused smile on his face. Vivian shrugged. Jack raised his eyebrows, but said nothing.

Martin was openly staring at her.

Sam opened her mouth, gave up, closed it, and shrugged.

-----------------------------------------------------

"Here we are, St. Anthony's." Danny got out of the car and looked up at the old stone building in front of him and Viv. He held the door for her, then followed her in.

"And it is for this reason that we _must_ repent. We _must_ turn to God. For the Bible says, 'The great day will suddenly close in on you like a trap,' so be on the watch."

Viv turned to Danny with one eyebrow raised. "I thought fire and brimstone died out a while ago."

They walked down the aisle, past the empty pews, as the priest finished his sermon. He came down from the altar to meet them. "Hello, there. Just getting a little practice in before mass on Sunday. And how can I help you two?"

Viv flashed her ID. "We're here to inquire about the disappearance of Father Channel Garver."

The priest's fatherly smile vanished, and he suddenly looked tired. "Ah, yes. I'm Father James, the pastor of St. Anthony's. Channel and I are good friends."

"Can you tell us when you last saw him?"

Father James nodded. "About a week ago. He came to me. He wanted to talk."

Danny and Viv looked at each other. "Was he in trouble?" she asked.

"Well," Father James hesitated. "He was... worried."

"About what?"

"Something someone had said to him in the confessional. He wasn't sure if he ought to tell someone. It must have been very serious, you know. We are very firm on the silence policy. He would never disclose anything said in that room." The Father nodded his head toward the little enclosed space in the back of the church. "But this time, he was struggling with it, whatever it was."

"Do you have any idea what it could have been?"

"No, he never did tell me. I didn't push it."

"If he thought it might be that important, you didn't think that maybe you should know what it was about?" Danny asked.

"I trust his judgment."

-----------------------------------------------------

"So what have we learned?" Vivian was driving, Danny was flipping through his notes.

"Well," he said, "we know Channel Garver went missing the same day that someone told him something in a confessional. Something that made him edgy. It was also the same day that Carolynn Casper probably almost phoned him, then hung up."

"So you're thinking she's the one in the confessional. Had something too important to say on the phone."

"It's a good possibility. And if Channel Garver almost blurted, maybe he decided to do something about it himself, save himself the inner struggle."

"Could be. If so, what was it, and where are they now?"

"I wish I knew."

-----------------------------------------------------


	6. Young People These Days

Title: Privilege

Author: NightMage

Rating: maybe PG13, to be safe.

Summary: The team gets very, very frustrated with doctor-patient privilege! And Sam deals with a problem of her own. My very first M/S fic.

NOTES:

Thanx to the readers, thanx to the reviewers, thanx to chele, luv you guys!

-----------------------------------------------------

Chapter 6  
_YOUNG PEOPLE THESE DAYS_

Here she came again, coming out of the building... with _him_ again! Damn! Who was that, anyway?

They were talking. This time he was close enough to hear.

"You have _no idea _who's sending them all." Ah! They were talking about him! Well, that was a slap in his face, ha!

"No."

"What about that guy who delivered them, um, Andrew – he sees you everyday, and obviously he knows where you work. You know, office crush – "

"It's no office crush, Martin."

"What?"

"Look, I noticed while I was waiting for you to finish up. It was… odd."

"_What_, Sam."

"The, uh, the first one came without a note, but the second one..." She hesitated, then leaned over and whispered something in his – _Martin's _– ear. He turned white.

"God, Samantha, you have to tell someone!"

"I just did."

"Sam, I'm serious."

"So am I," she said, _Samantha_ said, what a pretty name. "I'm on it, okay? If something besides big flowers and weird notes happens, I'll deal. Let's go."

Big? _Weird?_ Was that all she could – oh, God, they were heading towards him.

-----------------------------------------------------

Martin could tell Sam wanted to drop the subject, so he did, but he was still worried. If _he'd_ got a note like that... but, well, she said she was handling it, so he would let her get on with it. Still, he did _not_ want a creep like that after Samantha. He was honored that she trusted him enough to tell him, but... He was so preoccupied that he bumped into some guy smoking outside the building. That brought him back to reality. _Focus_, he told himself.

-----------------------------------------------------

Sam's cell phone rang as she got into the passenger seat of Martin's car. She looked at the name on the display; it was Jack. She flipped the phone open. "Yeah."

"Sam, we just got a call from an elderly neighbor of the Sanfords', a Mrs. Kambers. House is on the corner next to the phone booth. She claims to have heard arguing outside her apartment the day Carolynn disappeared. I'm going to reroute her call to you."

"Okay, put her on," Sam said, but Jack was already doing so. Samantha sighed and waited.

"Hello?" the lady's voice was creaky, but strong.

"Hi, Mrs. Kambers? This is Special Agent Spade from the FBI."

"Oh, hello there, Deary. Are you the one that nice man said I was to talk to?"

Samantha made a face at Martin. "Yes, can you tell me what you heard outside your window on June 2nd?"

"Well, certainly, Deary. See, I've always loved flowers…"

_Mrs. Kambers is trimming the stems of some petunias in her kitchen. She is adding them to a vase of flowers on the counter when a girl's shout comes from outside the open window: "_What!_" Another voice begins mumbling. Mrs. Kambers frowns – children are so loud these days – and goes to the window. Well, she never can miss a good gossip._

_There are two girls on the street. The dark-haired one is hunched over and crying. The blonde one is pacing, stamping up and down the sidewalk, and screaming. She's a mess. Mrs. Kambers can read the signs: that girl is on something illegal._

_"How could you!" The blonde screams. "How the hell could you do that to me!" The brunette, still crying, turns and runs. "I'm sorry!" she yells, before she turns the corner and is out of sight. The blonde stops pacing and suddenly stands very still. Mrs. Kambers shakes her head and leaves the window. What was wrong with young people these days? Besides, the petunias are hiding the daisies. She goes back to her flower arrangement. _

_About a half an hour later, Mrs. Kambers returns to the window. The blonde is gone. The brunette, though, is standing in the phone booth. She has left the door open. The girl appears to be crying still, and she's hunched over the phone. Mrs. Kambers can hear snatches of the conversation – she prides herself on retaining her good hearing at 76 years of age. "I need to talk to you... No it _can't_ wait...Lynn is going to kill me...She hates me already... It was a mistake! I don't know what to do ... Sorry..." The girl lowers her voice and whispers into the phone. About three minutes later, she hangs up and walks away. Mrs. Kambers drops the curtain._

"Alright, thank you, Mrs. Kambers. Yeah. Okay. Bye." Samantha closed her cell phone and turned to Martin. "Change of plans. Head back to Carolynn's apartment building. I'll explain on the way."

-----------------------------------------------------


	7. The Millpond

Title: Privilege

Author: NightMage

Rating: maybe PG13, to be safe.

Summary: The team gets very, very frustrated with doctor-patient privilege! And Sam deals with a problem of her own. My very first M/S fic. Please R&R!

NOTES:

As always, thanx to the readers, reviewers, etc, and to Chele who is, at the moment, sitting right next to me and watching me type this. You all can thank her for this chapter because she made me write it in payment for her making my dinner. Now I had better get on with the story or she's going to – Okay! Okay! I'm starting!

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Chapter 7  
_THE MILLPOND_

Danny's cell phone rang just as Vivian pulled up in the parking lot of the FBI building. He glanced at it, then over at Vivian. "It's Jack." He grabbed it and flipped it open. "What's up?"

"Danny. Where are you?"

"A few floors below where you are."

"Turn around, get back to St. Anthony's."

Danny looked up and found the window of Jack's office. "What? Why?"

"Father James just found a kid's jacket in Garver's confessional."

"Huh. On our way, Boss."

-----------------------------------------------------

Someone was knocking on the door. David Casper didn't much care. Let them knock. He couldn't find his daughter. Let them knock.

"Mr. Casper, FBI! Open up!"

They couldn't find his daughter either. Let them knock.

"Open up."

The knocking stopped. The door opened. How dare they just let themselves in? He was a peaceful man minding his own business. He couldn't find his daughter. His beer bottle was almost empty. Funny, he'd just opened another one. Gee. He couldn't find his daughter. Let them... wait. They weren't knocking. They were talking. Let them talk.

"Mr. Casper, we need to talk to Nigel Simmons. He wasn't in his apartment, do you know where he might be?"

It was the blonde agent again. She couldn't find his daughter. And there was a guy. Who was the guy? _That guy probably can't find my daughter either. Where'd the beer go?_ He couldn't find his beer. His daughter didn't drink, did she?

"Mr. Casper. Mr. Casper?"

Shut up and go away. "Does my daughter drink?"

"Excuse me?"

"Where is she? She stole my beer."

The guy and the blonde exchanged funny looks. "He's drunk," she said. Gee.

"Mr. Casper, we need to find Nigel Simmons."

What?

"Nigel Simmons! Zar! Do you know where Zar is?"

_Zar likes beer._ "Zar likes beer."

More funny looks. "Where does he drink?"

"He's, uh… he's drowning. Millpond."

The new guy was annoyed. "Mr. Casper, we really -"

"No, wait." The blonde interrupted.

"What?"

"The Millpond. It's a bar. Let's go."

-----------------------------------------------------

"This the jacket?" Danny held it up.

Father James nodded. "I was thinking about Channel after you left. I hadn't been in his confessional since... And the jacket was just sitting right there." He pointed.

Vivian checked the tag. _Lynn Casper_, it read, in faded black marker. "It's Carolynn's."

"She was here." Danny glanced into the confessional. "What are the odds it was her confession that spooked Father Garver?"

Viv nodded. "Yeah, now we just need to find out what her confession was."

-----------------------------------------------------

Sam had given Martin a brief summary of Nigel "Zar" Simmons' story on the way to 'The Millpond' – and how did she know about that bar anyway? Martin wondered. He still wasn't exactly sure why they needed to question 'Zar,' and Samantha wasn't being very talkative. Still, what Sam wanted, Sam got.

Martin led the way into the Millpond. As he held the door for her, it suddenly hit him that he was taking Samantha to a bar. Where did that come from? This is not a date, he told himself firmly. This is work.

'Zar' was sitting at a stool at the bar, staring into his bottle. Samantha worked her way over to him, dodging elbows and trying not to step on anyone's foot. Martin followed a little less cautiously.

"Zar."

Zar didn't turn around.

"Zar!" Samantha had to shout to be heard over the music.

Zar started, turned toward her, and blinked. Then he recognized her. "Oh, hey. It's... uh... Spade! Sam Spade! 'Sup?"

"We need to talk to you about Cai!" Sam shouted.

"What?"

"We need to talk to you!"

"Oh, right, okay. Comin'."

-----------------------------------------------------

Sam led Zar to a picnic table outside. Martin followed, though he still didn't really know what was going on.

Zar fiddled nervously with the edge of his ratty old jacket. Sam leaned across the table.

"Hey."

He looked up at her.

"Why didn't you tell us you got Cai pregnant?"

-----------------------------------------------------


	8. Piecing It Together

Title: Privilege

Author: NightMage

Rating: maybe PG13, to be safe.

Summary: The team gets very, very frustrated with doctor-patient privilege! And Sam deals with a problem of her own. My very first M/S fic. Please R&R!

-----------------------------------------------------

Chapter 8  
_PIECING IT TOGETHER_

Martin blinked. Whoa, wait a minute. What? Where did she get _that_ from? He glanced over at her; she wasn't even looking at him.

Zar held up his hands in defense. "Hey, man, who told ya that? Who says I did?"

Samantha ignored him. "Did you tell Carolynn?"

"I didn' do nothin', man! I don't know where the hell she is!"

Samantha's voice was getting louder. "I'm not asking you where the hell she is, I'm asking you - "

"I didn't tell Lynny nothing! And what's it matter anyway!"

Samantha slammed her fist on the table and shouted, "It matters because you were bangin' her best friend, _Zar_, and now _no one_ knows where the hell she is!"

Zar dropped his head into his hands, elbows on the table. "Oh, _man_ I fucked up."

"You sure did," Sam shot back. "Now what are you gonna do about it?"

-----------------------------------------------------

For the second time in two days, Martin stood outside the break room, looking in at Samantha standing alone. She had her back turned to the door and was staring into her coffee. They had brought Zar in, and Jack was questioning him. Martin supposed he ought to be in the interrogation room, too, but he wanted to talk to Sam.

He stepped in slowly. "Hey."

She didn't turn around. "Hey."

There was an awkward silence, then she faced him. "It was a theory."

"It was an incredibly accurate theory."

"Yeah." She glanced back down at her coffee.

More silence. Finally, Martin broke it with what he really wanted to ask. "C'mon, Sam, nothing in what old lady Kambers said screamed 'pregnancy' to me. What do you know that I don't?"

"Martin…" Her voice faded away and she looked up at him again.

He bit his lip, sighed. "Okay."

Sam hesitated, then gave a weak smile. "Thanks." She turned and walked away, leaving Martin staring after her.

-----------------------------------------------------

Danny studied the timeline he was standing in front of. "Okay, so Carolynn finds out that her boyfriend was screwing around, and that now her best friend is pregnant."

Sam, who was leaning against her desk, continued. "She's hurt, she's high, she probably hates everyone."

"She decides to talk to a priest, something she would rather do in person than over the phone."

"Meanwhile, Cai goes and talks to a shrink about what to do. She lies about ever having the argument because she doesn't want to admit what happened."

"And Carolynn goes and tells Father Garver something that almost upsets him enough to share with Father James. But he doesn't share, so maybe he does something about it himself. Question is, what did she tell him?"

Sam looked up at Danny. "She was thinking of suicide, and that was four days ago."

-----------------------------------------------------

**A/N: Well, I'm sorry this chapter was so short, but it's past 12:30 in the morning and I would really like to go to bed. Anyway, this is such a good spot to leave off, don't you think?**

**Please, please, PLEASE review, I want to hear from you so i know my story doesn't suck!**


	9. Her and Him

Title: Privilege

Author: NightMage

Rating: maybe PG13, to be safe.

Summary: The team gets very, very frustrated with doctor-patient privilege! And Sam deals with a problem of her own. My very first M/S fic. Please R&R!

NOTES:

Well! I really, really loved the reaction I got to the last chapter. Thanx so, so much for all the encouragement and support, etc. I hope you all review again, I'm writing this for you guys (well, and for my sister, who would probably kill me if I stopped now. Hey, want to know something funny? I had to break for a second there cause my sister called me just as I was writing that).

-----------------------------------------------------

Chapter 9  
_HER AND HIM_

Martin sighed. He and Samantha had just got back from David Casper's apartment, on an attempt to figure out where Carolynn might have gone. They had not found out. They had nothing new.

Samantha echoed his sigh. Martin was a little concerned about her. She had the look of someone beaten down and discouraged, but trying to hide it. Very seldomly did Samantha Spade look vulnerable, but it was those times that really made Martin's heart ache.

Samantha glanced at the FBI building, but made no move toward the door. "What are we doing, Martin? Four days ago she wanted to kill herself, there's no way she waited this long."

Martin hesitantly rested his hand on her shoulder. "Sam - "

She turned to face him. A few wisps of hair had escaped the stylishly messy knot behind her head, and hung down to frame her face. He gently tucked one behind her ear.

And he kissed her.

-----------------------------------------------------

No, no, no! She loves me, _me_! How can she kiss that– that _bastard_, that... ! It's betrayal! We were going to be together _forever_. She had to ruin it. _He_ had to ruin it! It's dirty, that's what it is. It's _unclean_. I hate her. I hate her!

And she's the love of my life. So if she won't be with me, she won't be with anybody.

-----------------------------------------------------

**A/N: I know, I know! The chapters are getting shorter! _gasp!_ But this was just my little blurb to show how much danger Sam really is in suddenly. Chapters should be getting longer again eventually. Apologies if this isn't really how a psycho stalker's mind works, but I wouldn't really know, so, oh well. **


	10. Confusion and Denial

Title: Privilege

Author: NightMage

Rating: maybe PG13, to be safe.

Summary: The team gets very, very frustrated with doctor-patient privilege! And Sam deals with a problem of her own. My very first M/S fic. Please R&R!

NOTES:

THANKUTHANKUTHANKU for all the reviews! What an amazing amount of support! Please, keep them coming! My goal is 100, but I know that's a little optimistic. But hey, why not, right?

So. Quoting some of my reviews:

"more Martin/Sam please!"  
"please hook martin and sam up properly soon?"  
"hurry up with martin and sam"

That last chapter, _Her and Him_? That was for you, guys. Except, it made Psycho Stalker mad. Tsk, tsk.

Anyway, on with the chapter, and I'm sorry if it gets a bit too dramatic. Hey, it wastwo in the morning, what can I say?

-----------------------------------------------------

Chapter 10  
_CONFUSION AND DENIAL_

"Anything?"

"Nothing. You?"

"No."

"Yeah, me neither."

"Yeah. You said that."

"Oh. Right, sorry."

Martin and Sam quickly glanced away from each other and back down at the file folders spread out over the table.

Martin was having trouble concentrating on the information in front of him. He had kissed Samantha Spade. Carolynn Casper had six cavities in the past eight years. He'd kissed _Samantha Spade. _Carolynn's dentist's name was Rick. He'd kissed Samantha Sp – what? _Rick kissed…_? No, no. _Focus Martin. _You_ kissed Samantha Spade._ No, wait a minute. Focus on – on Rick. Rick was…who?

Martin gave up.

-----------------------------------------------------

Samantha was not having much luck, either. She told herself it was too soon. She told herself he was too new. It was just a kiss anyway. Plenty of guys had kissed her in the past. She told herself to be careful.

She remembered how right it had felt.

_Shut up, Sam_, she told herself. _Read about Carolynn Casper._ Samantha glanced down at the open file and read, 00441 2397 ii6 k28. What?

Samantha rubbed her forehead. She was too tired to do this now. It was already dark out, and they still had no leads on where Carolynn Casper might go to end her life. What were the chances, anyway? She was going home.

Sam slammed the file shut and reached for her coat. Martin's head popped up. "Where are you going?"

"Home."

"I'll… I'll walk you to your car."

A look passed between them.

"…Okay."

-----------------------------------------------------

Martin and Sam walked out together, and they both wondered who would notice. They both guessed the same person: Jack. But they didn't discuss it. They were silent all the way out to the street. It wasn't a tense silence, but it wasn't quite comfortable, either.

It wasn't tense, at least, until they reached Sam's car.

Both the driver's and the passenger's windows had been smashed. Someone had keyed the word _whore_ into the silver paint on the side door.

Martin and Sam stood in shock.

Sam spoke first. "Oh, God."

Martin didn't reply.

"Martin? Please tell me you think this was random."

He didn't look at her. He was staring at the driver's seat. "He left you something."

Sam hesitantly followed his gaze. Lying on the driver's seat was a single red rose. "Oh, _God_."

Martin turned toward her with a firm look on his face. "I'm driving you home."

Sam started, and tore her gaze from the rose. "What? No, no I'm fine."

"You are _not_ fine."

"I'll just have it towed and get a cab."

"Sam, you're being stalked!"

"I know!"

Their voices were beginning to rise.

"It's not safe for you to be alone!"

"I'm a big girl! I can handle it!" She turned and flagged a taxi.

Martin shook his head. "Then I'm coming with you."

She flung the door open. "No, you're not!" She shoved her purse in.

"Then – then I'm coming over tonight!"

Sam turned and stared at him. "Fine. Whatever." Then she got in and the taxi drove away, and Martin rushed to his own car to follow them.

-----------------------------------------------------

Martin followed taxi 47 all the way to Sam's apartment, too caught up in his worry to notice that someone else was following the license plate FTZGERLD. And Sam sat alone in her cab, her thoughts racing too fast for her to catch up with them.

-----------------------------------------------------

**A/N: Hey, this is the first time I've actually written from the author's point of view. But, I think that at this point, it was the best way to tell the story.**

**Also: in the writing of this chapter, my editor (my sister, actually) and I discussed the issue of whether or not Sam owned a car. After all, it's NYC, what if she always takes a cab or the subway or something? But this chapter worked best if she did have a car, so I don't know if she does on the show, but in this story, she does.**

**Reviews, reviews, reviews! are always wonderful.**


	11. Love Her

Title: Privilege

Author: NightMage

Rating: maybe PG13, to be safe.

Summary: The team gets very, very frustrated with doctor-patient privilege! And Sam deals with a problem of her own. My very first M/S fic. Please R&R!

NOTES:

The first time I heard someone read this story out loud, they said something like the following: "'…was last seen arguing with her best friend, KAY Sanford.' SAY Sanford? SIGH Sanford?" so once and for all: "CAI" rhymes with EYE and FLY and DIE and CRY, and the '**C**' is a HARD **C** like a **K**. Like COOK. Thank you.

Okay, anyway, sorry for the long wait, but I'm getting into the tricky parts of this story, and with holidays and exams on top of that... Thanx for the reviews, they keep this thing going.

Note to Jen and drama-freak-csim: There is NO SUCH THING as a too-long review!

Also: I've got my own C2 thing now! tell me if you wanna be a staff member.

Okay, on with the show.

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Chapter 11  
_LOVE HER_

Martin looked up from his coffee as the

Martin looked up from his coffee as the door to Jack's office slammed. Samantha stormed into the break room, and before he could open his mouth, she started in on him.

"You told Jack about the car."

"Sam, I–"

"Samantha. And you had no right to do that. I told you I was handling it!"

"Look, Sam. Antha. I just thought he should –"

"If I thought he should know I'd tell him myself!"

"Would you?"

Samantha opened her mouth, but stopped herself abruptly. For a minute, they glared at each other, then Samantha blinked and rubbed her forehead. "God, Martin, I'm sorry."

Martin took a quick glance around to make sure no one was watching, then pulled her into a gentle hug. "It's okay, Sam."

-----------------------------------------------------

Outside the break room, Danny smiled. He'd almost walked in on them, but caught himself before he could cause a disruption. He was glad to see they were finally getting enough sense to see what the entire office already saw – they were a perfect match. And he liked to think of himself as the matchmaker. A rather good accomplishment, in his opinion. He'd recognized their bond from the start.

But right now there were other things that needed to be taken care of. A girl was missing. Still, he politely cleared his throat in the doorway before taking a step inside.

Startled, Sam pulled quickly away from Martin, and the two turned to face him.

"Sorry, but I have a question. Did Rissa Thompson ever mention a drug-related incident, happened about eleven years ago?"

Martin glanced at Sam before answering. "No, why?"

Danny held up an official-looking paper. "Turns out Carolynn had a brother, Dylan Casper. O.D.ed when Carolynn was three – same year Rissa Thompson left her husband. The theory is, Rissa Thompson had an affair with David Casper, and that Dylan knew it. Afterward, David Casper blamed Rissa Thompson for his son's death, and they broke up. _And_, Dylan died around noon on June 7th. That's today. Point is, now maybe Carolynn knows where Dylan went to kill himself, and maybe she's planning on going to the same place, same day. _Question_ is, where is that?"

Sam grabbed her coat. "Let's head over to Rissa Thompson's."

Danny grinned. "You two go. I'll see if Mr. Casper has sobered up yet."

-----------------------------------------------------

Sam's first-floor apartment was empty. There was no one there. A light breeze casually blew in through the open window, exploring the vacant space. On the modest little oak coffee table, a plain white envelope sat waiting. Plain and white, that is, except for the one word written in heavy black script on the back flap: _Samantha_.

-----------------------------------------------------

He had warned her. He really had. As if telling her exactly what she was wasn't enough! And the rose, that was his gift to her, the sign that he'd still have her if she'd drop her boy-toy. But no, what did she do? Invite the bastard over! _Overnight!_ That bitch.

_Love her. _Hate_ her_.

-----------------------------------------------------


	12. The Lilac House

Title: Privilege

Author: NightMage

Rating: maybe PG13, to be safe.

Summary: The team gets very, very frustrated with doctor-patient privilege! And Sam deals with a problem of her own. My very first M/S fic. Please RR!

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Chapter 12  
_THE LILAC HOUSE_

"You two again." Rissa Thompson was less than happy to see them. Samantha had to wonder what bad experiences Ms. Thompson had had with the government in the past, that she was so prejudiced against them now. Perhaps it had something to do with ex-husband Carl's drinking problem.

"Sorry to bother you again, Ms. Thompson, but we'll only take a moment of your time." Martin paused and glanced at Samantha.

"Well, what?"

"We need to ask you about Dylan Casper," Martin said slowly.

Rissa Thompson froze for a moment, then sucked in her breath. "You had better come in."

-----------------------------------------------------

"Mr. Casper!" Danny banged on the door of apartment 2B for the third time. Finally, the door creaked open, and David Casper stuck his sallow-skinned, dull-eyed head out. Apparently, Danny thought, yesterday's binging had left a nasty hangover.

"What?" was Mr. Casper's only greeting.

"Mr. Casper, we need to talk about your son."

"He's dead."

"Mr. Casper – "

"Bet Lynn is, too."

"We don't know that yet. I know this is hard for you, but I need you to tell me where Dylan went to end his life."

A hard look came into David Casper's dark eyes. "Ask that bitch Thompson."

The door slammed in Danny's face. For a moment, he considered busting in and taking Mr. Casper to interrogation, but decided against it. The man was having a bad enough day already. And if what he had said was true, Martin and Samantha – Danny grinned to himself; he liked putting those names together – would be calling him soon anyway. Better to get back to the office, and prepare to act on any information coming in.

-----------------------------------------------------

"Make yourselves comfortable." Rissa Thompson gestured in the general direction of the living room. She remained standing as Martin joined Samantha on the couch, very carefully making sure that he was not touching his colleague._ You do_ not_ need distractions right now_, he told himself. _Regardless of how good it felt to kiss her._ He quickly banished that thought from his mind.

Rissa Thompson started to pace as she began her story. "Dylan was clinically depressed. That's the only reason he suicided. Or at least, the only reason _I_ can see."

Her expression turned sour for a minute, and the two agents waited for her to go on.

"Everyone saw it but his own blasted father. Dave. Insisted his son was just a little down. Was so sure there was nothing wrong. _Idiot_."

Martin and Samantha glanced at each other.

"When Dylan died, the man was so sure it was my fault."

"Why?" Samantha interrupted.

"'Cause the fool boy decided to kill himself in the back shed of _La Maison des Lilas_."

"The restaurant?"

"How does that make it your fault?" asked Martin.

Rissa Thompson looked uncomfortable. "Well, you see, Dave and I…"

"We know about the affair," Samantha reassured her.

"Oh… well, _La Maison des Lilas_ was where we always met. Dave figured Dylan was leaving a last protestation against our relationship." She scowled. "So he dumped me, right after I'd dumped my husband, and left me to fend for myself while he wallowed alone in his misery, serve him right."

Samantha stood up. "Thank you for your time, Ms. Thompson."

-----------------------------------------------------

Danny's cell phone rang as he was pulling into the parking lot. He glanced at the name on the display, Samantha – _did I call it or what_, he thought – and flipped it open. "Yeah?"

"_La Maison des Lilas_."

"Got it."

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	13. Tensions

Title: Privilege 

Author: NightMage

Rating: maybe PG13, to be safe.

Summary: The team gets very, very frustrated with doctor-patient privilege! And Sam deals with a problem of her own. My very first M/S fic. Please RR!

NOTES:

I am so sorry this took so long… there was a problem with this story, and thanx to CheChe for helping me figure it out!

Also, what did everyone think of that last episode, Party Girl, with Chelsea Prince? I liked it, it was incredible, but it ended so abruptly! Was she okay? Honestly, someone needed to give that girl a hug!

And lastly, for any doctors, nurses, psychiatrists, etc, who know all about drugs, I'm sorry if the information I use in this story is incorrect. However I am a 13 yr old girl who is _not_ clinically depressed and doesn't know anyone who has been, so bear with me.

-----------------------------------------------------

Chapter 13  
_TENSIONS_

The door to the shed burst open, and Danny, followed by Jack and Vivian, burst in after it, guns drawn. "Freeze! FBI!"

There was no one in the shed.

"Clear!" Danny shouted, and lowered his gun as the others spread out to look around. The shed was small and crowded with so much that had been stored away and forgotten. There was a full water pitcher on an old wooden table, with a glass beside it. Definitely out of place.

"Over here."

Danny turned at the sound of Vivian's voice. She was holding a framed photograph of a young teenage boy with sandy blonde hair. "Dylan Casper, you think?"

Danny nodded, then glanced around again. "Looks like Carolynn was definitely here."

"Yeah," Jack agreed, "but where is she now? And where's the priest?"

Vivian added, "And where are Martin and Samantha?"

Just then Jack's cell phone rang. He looked at the display, then at Vivian. "Guess we'll find out. Yeah?" He spoke the last word into the phone.

Danny watched, concerned, as Jack began to frown. "What? …When, dammit! …Did you see his face? …Are either of you hurt?" Jack rubbed his forehead. "Damn. Okay, yeah. …No, she's not here anymore." He covered the phone and asked, "Anyone find any sign of drugs?" Danny shook his head, and Vivian said no. Jack took his hand away from the phone. "No, none. …Uh, case file claims…" he flipped through his notes. "Zoloft. …No, we're checking. …No. You stay with Samantha. Danny and Viv are here now. …I know. Just… stay there. Okay. We'll figure this out. …Yeah. …Be careful. I'll see you later." Jack slammed the phone shut.

Danny glanced at Vivian, then back at Jack. "What was that about?"

"Some wacko just ran Sam and Martin off the road. Luckily, they were near her apartment."

"What!" Vivian stared at him.

"Yeah, they didn't see his face; he was masked."

"It was intentional?"

"Well that, along with the fact the guy didn't stop to help them, and the fact that he called Samantha a bitch and a slut, seems to mean it was intentional."

"_What!_"

"Samantha's had a stalker for a few days now. Trashed her car last night. Sent her all those flowers. God, I have to get over there."

Vivian stepped in the way as Jack headed for the door.

"Move, Viv!"

"Are either of them hurt?"

"What?"

Vivian repeated her question.

"Sam's ankle is broken!"

"And Martin?"

"Banged up."

"But he's okay."

"Yes."

"So he's taking care of Samantha."

"Yes, but –"

"But nothing. They're fine for now. You have a job to do. Carolynn Casper could suicide at any moment. Worry about Samantha's stalker after you've taken care of this."

The two stared at each other for a moment. Danny jerked himself out of his shock over Martin and Sam and broke the tension. "Viv's right. Let's do this. Sooner we find Carolynn, sooner we can go see Martin and Samantha. What drug did you say Dylan O.D.ed on? Zoloft?" Jack nodded, and Danny continued. "Okay, obviously Carolynn wants to imitate Dylan's death. Same place, same day. Means she probably wants to use the same drug, too. Where would she go for it? Think David Casper has any left over?"

Vivian shook her head. "If he did, it wouldn't have kept for eleven years."

Jack looked up. "The psychiatrist, Nancy Dawson. She sees Cai as a favor to Cai's mother, who happened to be having an affair with Dylan's father at the time of Dylan's death."

Vivian picked up on his thought and continued for him. "So it follows that if Dylan were looking for someone to talk to, Rissa Thompson might recommend her friend Nancy."

"And if Carolynn knew that, she would know how to find Nancy Dawson."

Danny nodded. "Then that's where we're going."

-----------------------------------------------------


	14. Peek a Boo

Title: Privilege

Author: NightMage

Rating: maybe PG13, to be safe.

Summary: The team gets very, very frustrated with doctor-patient privilege! And Sam deals with a problem of her own. My very first M/S fic. Please RR!

NOTES:

Huh… I've got nothing to say. Thanx to everyone, as always… that's about it.

DEDICATIONS:

**To Lei**, I dedicate the stalker's NY Yankees cap.  
**To Michele**, I dedicate the writing in the stalker's note... that sounds bad. But now, Chele, you can stop bugging me for not telling you what the _last_ note said, cause I revealed this one.

----------------------------------------------------- 

Chapter 14  
_PEEK-A-BOO_

Martin hung up the phone in the lobby of the apartment building, and turned back to Samantha. Sam was leaning against the wall, putting all of her weight on her good foot. "Okay, let's get you into your apartment."

----------------------------------------------------- 

Sam nodded and gingerly pushed away from the wall. Martin put his arm around her, and the two began to hobble down the hallway.

Neither of them noticed the blonde man in the Yankees cap sitting in the corner, watching them over yesterday's paper.

Martin took the room key from Sam and opened the door to her apartment. The first thing he noticed was that it was sparse. Impersonal. It didn't have the lived-in feeling he had expected. The second thing he noticed was the white envelope on the coffee table.

"Martin?" Sam had seen it, too. She was staring at it, in fact.

Martin, finally noticing the open window, felt a shiver go down his spine. "Stay here a minute." He pulled out his gun. Warily, he checked first the kitchen area, then the bedroom, and finally the bathroom. "All clear." He went to close the window as Sam limped over to the couch and sat down. She waited for him to join her before picking up the envelope with a trembling hand. Martin noticed with concern that she was still very shaken up from the incident on the road, and put his arm around her again, pulling her close, trying to reassure her. She glanced at him briefly before pulling out the carefully typed note.

_Peek-a-boo. I see you.  
Give up, bitch._

-----------------------------------------------------

Samantha froze. She wanted to be strong, she wanted not to care, but it was too much too soon. First the flowers, then her car, then that 'accident', now this. Oh God, her ankle throbbed. A headache was building and her temple pounded. What was she supposed to do? The bastard had been _in her apartment._ He knew where she worked, he knew where she lived. He knew what car she drove, what car Martin drove. And she didn't have any idea as to who he was.

Gently, Martin put his arm around her. She flinched, then leaned against him.

She wanted to be out there with the team. She wanted to find Carolynn Casper, and tell her she knew how it felt to want to quit. She wanted to tell her it was okay to be upset and scared and lonely, okay to need help. Okay to let someone hold you up. Okay to hate your best friend for a while.

Okay to hate your stalker. Oh God, she was having a break down. _Stop before you start crying. Hold it together, Sam, get a grip._ Her ankle hurt like hell. She was losing it. _Someone is trying to kill me_.

Slowly, softly, Martin kissed the top of her head. "It's okay, Sam. It'll be okay."

-----------------------------------------------------

A minute later, they both flinched as the phone rang.

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	15. Apprehension

Title: Privilege

Author: NightMage

Rating: maybe PG13, to be safe.

Summary: The team gets very, very frustrated with doctor-patient privilege! And Sam deals with a problem of her own. My very first M/S fic. Please R&R!

NOTES:

Weebles: I _luv_ it when people 'keep reviewing'! And my C2 is w w w . f a n f i c t i o n . n e t / c 2 / 9 2 7 8 / 0 / 1 , but it's easier to get to if you just go to my bio page and click on 'C2'.

Again, sorry for any inaccurate medical details and procedures.

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Chapter 15  
_APPREHENSION_

Vivian wouldn't let Jack drive on the way to Nancy Dawson's work building, so he sat in the passenger seat, staring out the front window, lips pressed in a hard line, worrying. Some jerk had hurt Sam. Martin had told him about the flowers, the car. The rose. That's what plagued him the most; he had _known_ what was going on. He should have done something sooner! As her boss he had let her down. As her friend he had failed her. Oh God, he –

"Snap out of it."

Jack jerked his head sideways and held Vivian's gaze for a moment. Then she turned her eyes back to the road, and he sighed. He hoped they would find Carolynn Casper soon – for more reasons than one.

-----------------------------------------------------

Martin reached warily for the phone, not taking his hand off Samantha's shoulder. He picked up the receiver. "Hello?"

"Is this Martin Fitzgerald?"

Martin glanced back at Sam. "Yes."

"I'm just calling to confirm your 911 call for medical attention?"

Martin's relief was visible, and Samantha relaxed. "Yes, for a friend of mine."

"Broken ankle."

"Yes."

"Okay, thank you, Sir. Ambulance is on its way."

"Thank you." Martin hung up, and sat down beside Samantha again. "We're gonna get you to a hospital."

Sam nodded.

-----------------------------------------------------

"Right here, Viv. Turn off."

"I know, Jack."

"Building's on the left."

"I know, Jack."

Vivian parked the car, and the two agents climbed out to rejoin Danny, who had hopped a ride in a different van. As he adjusted his headset, Danny glanced up at the building. "I really hope she's here."

_So do I_, thought Jack.

-----------------------------------------------------

Martin and Sam looked up as one when the knock came on the door. Martin got up and looked through the peep hole. A blonde man stood there in a paramedic's uniform, holding a First Aid kit. Martin undid the latch and opened the door.

The man looked up with a polite smile. "Martin Fitzgerald, I presume?"

Martin nodded and stepped away from the doorway.

"And you must be the gal with the broken ankle." The paramedic walked past Martin over to Samantha, who gave a tight smile. "Ambulance is waiting out front. Let's have a look at that." He bent down and unrolled the makeshift bandage Martin had provided. Sam's ankle was purple and swelling. The paramedic looked up at her, adjusting his Yankees cap. "Nasty break."

-----------------------------------------------------

"Alright," said Jack, "There are two main ways to get into the building; front door, back door. My guess is that Carolynn wants to be seen as little as possible. That means back door. Danny, you're there with me and Team 1. Just in case I'm wrong, Viv, you're taking the front entrance with Team 2. And casually, people, we don't want her spooked and running."

"Excuse me."

Jack turned to face a woman from Vivian's team. The woman was holding up a cell phone. "Just got a call from David Casper. His gun is missing. He's freaking."

"What? Since when did David Casper have a gun! Nice thing to forget to mention when your daughter's running around trying to kill herself. Is it registered?"

"No, Sir."

Jack pinched the bridge of his nose and shut his eyes. "Wonderful."

Suddenly, all their heads turned as the security alarm in the building began to wail.

Vivian sucked in a breath. "I guess she's here."

-----------------------------------------------------

The paramedic opened his First Aid kit and began to rummage through the contents. Sam suddenly realized that she had the nagging feeling she'd seen him before. Somewhere… hair that blonde wasn't easy to forget. She shook it off. It was probably nothing.

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	16. Screw Casual

Title: Privilege

Author: NightMage

Rating: maybe PG13, to be safe.

Summary: The team gets very, very frustrated with doctor-patient privilege! And Sam deals with a problem of her own. My very first M/S fic. Please R&R!

NOTES:

A big, huge, colossal, enormous, extensive, fat, full, gigantic, heavy duty thank you to Chele for practically giving me a sentence-by-sentence outline of this chapter.

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Chapter 16 _  
SCREW CASUAL_

"Okay, people, screw what I said about casual. We want to get this under control as soon as possible. Subject is armed and suicidal. Let's move." Jack strode to the back door, Danny and Team 1 behind him, and Vivian went the other way with Team 2.

-----------------------------------------------------

The paramedic examined the swelling around Sam's ankle. "Looks like we're gonna need some ice on this." He glanced at Sam.

"I'll get it." Martin turned and walked into the kitchen. He was fighting a strange feeling of foreboding, and it irked him that he couldn't quite place what was bothering him. He yanked the freezer door open and looked inside – no ice. Odd, he thought.

Sam looked up as Martin reentered the room and reported, "Ice tray's empty."

"What? But I just - "

"Well, we do need ice," the paramedic interrupted. "Try a neighbor?"

Martin paused for a moment, unsure of why that sounded like a really bad idea. _Stop it, _he told himself. _You're being ridiculous and paranoid_. "Sure." He turned uneasily and left.

Sam was startled when the paramedic got up and locked the door.

-----------------------------------------------------

Guns out in front of them, Team 1 cautiously made its way up to floor 7. Jack, in the lead, was the first to notice that the door to Nancy Dawson's office was slightly ajar. There was no sound coming from inside, which Jack decided was probably a bad thing. Motioning to his team, he silently crept up to the door, then burst it open. "Freeze, FBI!"

The room was empty. The door to the back room, however, was also open, and immediately a crash came from inside. Jack moved toward the sound, keeping his gun up.

Father Channel Garver stood inside, looking disheveled and upset.

Jack didn't waste time. "Where is Carolynn Casper?"

"I don't know!" The Father threw up his hands. "She was gone when I got here! Please, Sir, she's going to kill herself, we have to find her - "

"I know. I know, just stay calm." Jack turned to look at Vivian as Team 2 filtered into the room. "We've got to get back to that restaurant. Now."

-----------------------------------------------------

Sam stared uncertainly as the paramedic slid the bolt into place. She suddenly had a very, very bad feeling in her gut, and her insides clenched. "What are you doing?"

The man turned to look at her without answering.

"I just refilled the ice tray last night." She mentally kicked herself; her voice quavered.

The man smiled, and Samantha's gut feeling worsened. "Look out the window."

Hesitantly, Sam shot a quick glance out the window. There was a pool of water on the sidewalk.

"You don't remember me, do you?"

Sam jerked her head back around to stare at him. Remember him? From where?

_Blonde hair_, a sneaky little voice whispered in her head. _So blonde that his hair was almost white_…

Oh, God. She remembered. "You're – you're Richard. Richard from _Live Now!_"

-----------------------------------------------------

**A/N: ****KatieHL: Kudos! I think you probably had the right idea, and thanks also for not saying straight out what you thought and spoiling the story. Probably a lot of other readers were on the right track too, so congratulations if you'd already guessed the identity of the stalker, and thank you all for keeping your mouths shut!**

**Spikey: Once again, you get first prize for funniest review. **

**Raven001: Just wanted to say that it felt really cool, seeing the name of a character I'd created in someone else's typing. So thanks!**

**Everyone else: Yes, I luv ALL reviews! **


	17. Hindsight is 20:20

Title: Privilege

Author: NightMage

Rating: maybe PG13, to be safe.

Summary: The team gets very, very frustrated with doctor-patient privilege! And Sam deals with a problem of her own. My very first M/S fic. Please R&R!

NOTES:

I LUV U ALL SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT THANK YOU AND KEEP IT COMING!

Also, does anyone know where to find good-quality online clips of WaT that can be used in music vids and stuff? I know of Federal Threesome, but that's it. If you know any, email me or post it in a review. Thanx!

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Chapter 17  
_HINDSIGHT IS 20/20_

He frowned. He had not counted on her knowing his name. He didn't remember introducing himself…

Oh well. No matter. After all this was over he could disappear to Canada or something and adopt a new identity.

All that mattered was right now. She was staring at him in horror from her place on the couch, which, in his opinion, only made her more beautiful. And now that her pesky boyfriend was out of the way, she was well and truly his.

All the effort he'd put into getting to this moment suddenly felt very worth it.

-----------------------------------------------------

Martin had to try three different doors before someone was kind enough to lend him some ice, and even then, he suspected that the someone – a teenage girl with pink highlights – was only helping him in order to flirt with him. No wonder Samantha didn't like to spend much time around here.

On his way back to Sam's room, Martin glanced out the window – and stopped short. There was no ambulance parked out front. Quickly scanning the street below him, Martin realized that there was no ambulance anywhere in sight. _What the…? Then who is in Samantha's apartment?_

With a sick feeling, he suddenly realized how strange it was that only one paramedic had been sent in to help them. How he'd never heard of 911 calling back for confirmation. How he'd been manipulated out of the room. _Oh, God. Sam!_

He practically flew back to her apartment, yanking on the door handle to no avail. It was locked. He pounded his fists on it, furious with himself, afraid for Sam. "Open the damn door! _Samantha!_"

-----------------------------------------------------

Jack mentally beat himself up all the way back down Terracotta Road. How could he have been so stupid as to not leave a team behind at La Maison des Lilas? How dense could he get? He supposed the situation with Samantha had distracted him. Curse that damn stalker and all the trouble he was causing. He hoped Samantha was doing okay.

Vivian had been right. He needed to focus. He had a job to do. He would be there for Carolynn Casper; then he could be there for Sam.

_Besides_, he thought heavily, _nothing I can do for her that Martin hasn't probably already done_.

-----------------------------------------------------

"Why are you here?" Sam asked, trying to stall for time. Her gaze swept the room. Where the hell was her gun when she needed it? Her eyes found it lying on the kitchen table; she'd taken it off when they'd first arrived in order to sit more comfortably. _How idiotic!_ Then again, she allowed, she hadn't been suspecting trouble in her own apartment… _So what!_ the furious little voice in her head shot back. _You knew you were being stalked! Why_ weren't_ you suspecting trouble? What kind of an FBI agent are you?_

"Why do you think I'm here?"

_Corny_, thought Sam. _This is not some TV drama_. She needed to do something. Something besides yell at herself. _Okay, Sam. You let yourself get into this situation. Now get yourself out of it_.

She needed to get to her gun.

-----------------------------------------------------

**A/N: Notice how everyone is beating themself up?**

**Okay people, right now I have 96 reviews. I'm hoping this chapter will push it over 100.  
****Please please review!**


	18. Falling Apart

Title: Privilege

Author: NightMage

Rating: maybe PG13, to be safe.

Summary: The team gets very, very frustrated with doctor-patient privilege! And Sam deals with a problem of her own. My very first M/S fic. Please R&R!

NOTES:

I am SO SORRY this took so long! It's been crazy here, birthdays, exams, graduations, etc, and plus now that Season 3's over there are no new WaT episodes to get me all excited and in the fanfic mood.

BUT here the next chapter finally is, and I hope you like it, because it was very hard to write. Hopefully I'll get the next chapter up soon, now that school's out.

Lastly, THANX SO MUCH to everyone who reviewed and has reviewed in the past, cause I now have OVER **100** reviews! Luv u all!

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Chapter 18  
_FALLING APART_

The team reassembled in front of the shed behind La Maison des Lilas. There were no windows, no other ways into the shed but the one door. That one door was locked, though Jack knew he had not locked it behind him when he'd left.

He wondered how Samantha was doing.

Absently he reached for his gun and missed, his hand grasping the air beside his holster. He could have kicked himself. _Get your head back in the game!_ What was wrong with him?

Vivian laid a hand on his arm, and he jumped. Jerkily he turned to face her. "What?"

"Jack, you're falling apart."

"What are you talking about, I'm perfectly fine."

She shook her head. "No, you're not. You're all wired up. You're not thinking clearly." Her tone convinced him that she had seen his blunder, and he winced. "Jack, sit this one out."

He stared at her. "What?"

"Danny and I can handle it."

"Viv, I – "

"Jack, face it, you're screwing up. You're making dumb mistakes. And every minute you spend sitting here denying it could cost a girl her life. You calm down. We're moving in."

There was a tense second between them, Jack not wanting to admit she was right, Vivian hesitating to make a major move without her boss's approval. Then Jack cursed his pride and said simply, "Go."

-----------------------------------------------------

"From the moment I saw you, I knew you were mine."

Sam could think of no clever retort that would not provoke her stalker, so she wisely kept her mouth shut.

"Hear me? You were _mine_."

She eyed the distance between the couch and the kitchen table. By her judgment it was about ten feet away. Too far to go without being noticed. Speed, then, would be the trick.

"Hey!"

Sam jerked her gaze from the table back to her captor, who was now striding toward her. Before she had time to react, he slapped her hard across the face. Her head snapped sideways.

"You look at me when I'm talking to you!"

Sam blinked, resisting the extraordinary urge to raise a hand to her stinging cheek. God it hurt. God, God, God. _Pull it together, Sam, pull it together._ She returned his gaze levelly.

Richard swore at her and stalked away.

Her gaze returned to her gun.

-----------------------------------------------------

Danny led as he and Vivian burst through the shed door for the second time in less than an hour.

Carolynn Casper looked up, startled.

She was sitting cross-legged against the back wall.

She was holding an empty pill bottle in her lap.

She was reaching for the gun on the floor beside her.

Danny bit his tongue to keep from swearing.

-----------------------------------------------------

Sam watched her captor stomp over to the window, continuing to yell. "You belong to me because we were meant for each other. And if you hadn't decided to whore yourself to that thickheaded idiot you call a man, everything would have worked out. But you denied me. You turned me into a freak." His expression sent chills down her spine. He shot a glare at her. "I hate you, Samantha Spade. And before this day's over, you'll know just how much."

Sam remained silent.

Frustrated with her lack of response, Richard swung around to stare out the window. Sam seized the chance.

She sprang off the couch and lurched toward the kitchen table before Richard could turn fully around. _Come on, come on, come on_. His reflexes were blastedly quick. He was gaining on her. The gun was in her sight, so close, so close._ Come on Sam, a few more feet – _

Her hand closed around cold, hard metal and she felt a burst of triumph that was abruptly suppressed as a cold, hard hand closed around her ankle – her broken ankle – in a vice-like grip, and yanked. Pain exploded. She fell forward, just barely missing the table as she went down. Her head cracked against the tile floor. With dazed surprise, she realized she had retained her hold on the gun. Unfortunately, she was in no position to use it, twisted on the floor as she was.

She couldn't turn over onto her back, she couldn't get her balance. _Dammit, Sam, you've got a weapon, use it!_ But she couldn't. Her ankle killed, she couldn't take control.

He was dragging her across the floor, back over to the couch. Violently, he lifted her up and flung her onto the couch with absolutely no regard for her injured limb and just as savagely threw himself down on top of her, knocking the gun from her hand. The breath left her lungs. _Oh God, can't breathe. Breathe, Sam, breathe._ He was mumbling things, whispering things her brain wouldn't allow her to comprehend. His hands were all over her, she could feel his breath against her neck, and then he was kissing her, a brutal, defiling kiss that crushed her lips and gave her no chance for desperately needed air. The world was blacking out, fuzzing in her vision, she couldn't get her bearings. She thought, suddenly, that she heard Martin calling her, but she couldn't be sure of anything anymore…

-----------------------------------------------------

Carolynn raised the gun.

Danny jerked to a halt; it was pointed at him.

Carolynn was shaking, looking confused and angry. "Get away from me!" Her voice was high-pitched and unnatural, and Danny couldn't tell if it was because of stress, drugs, or the Zoloft already taking effect. He hoped passionately that it wasn't the latter.

"Okay, Carolynn, I'm staying over here – "

"Get away from me!"

"I'm staying right here – It's okay, I just want to talk. Can we do that for a minute, Carolynn, can we just talk for a minute – "

"Leave me alone! I hate you! I hate everybody!"

"Look, it may not seem like it right now, Carolynn, but things will get better. Believe me, I know things will get better. I've been where you are, Carolynn, I've been there – "

"Liar!" the hysterical girl screeched.

"I'm not lying, Carolynn, I've been there. Okay? I've been there. I know it seems like the world is hell. I know you feel like everyone's betrayed you, okay, and maybe they have, but you've got to believe that things will get better, okay? You've got to believe that."

She began to sob, big, fat, messy tears that broke Danny's heart. Slowly, he began to come toward her. "You can get through this. Life can be better than this. You've just got to hold on, Carolynn. Just hold on."

She was shaking her head side to side as if she couldn't bear to stop and see what was happening around her. "No," she mumbled. "No, no, no."

"Yes, Carolynn. You can do this. Just give me the gun, Carolynn, and we can get you to a hospital and – "

"No!" With sudden panic, Carolynn jerked back against the wall. Staring at Danny with wet eyes, the baby blue eyes of a model, Carolynn dropped the empty pill bottle and turned the gun on herself.

-----------------------------------------------------


	19. Turmoil

Title: Privilege

Author: NightMage

Rating: maybe PG13, to be safe.

Summary: The team gets very, very frustrated with doctor-patient privilege! And Sam deals with a problem of her own. My very first M/S fic. Please R&R!

NOTES:

I'll say it now, so as not to spoil the effect of the end of the chapter… at least, I _hope_ the end of the chapter has an effect. I tried… anyway: REVIEWS APPRECIATED. Thank you, thank you very much.

I'm thinking… two more chapters after this. Maybe three, but I highly doubt it.

I am _considering_ a sequel… maybe.

Anyway, you've all waited long enough (I like to think breathlessly, lol) and so here's the next chapter.

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Chapter 19  
_TURMOIL_

_Air. Oh God, Sam, breathe_. Richard shifted slightly and she gasped for breath. If she could just –

A fist slammed into the side of her head and she nearly lost consciousness. His hands were moving, always moving, and she couldn't push him off. She couldn't get him off. Her ankle was going numb, it hurt so much. Her head throbbed in time to her heartbeat, and the combined sound they were making almost drowned out the screaming in her head. She needed help. Oh God, somebody please help her, because she was an FBI agent and this type of thing wasn't supposed to happen to her. She was strong, dammit. She was strong. But it hurt too much. Oh god, it hurt so much.

He laughed softly at her futile attempts to regain control, and leaned down until his mouth was right next to her ear. "Give up, bitch." He reached toward her.

Suddenly, he wasn't there. In a haze, she blinked. He was gone. Slowly, painfully, she turned her head.

Martin was there.

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Danny leapt forward. He smacked the gun out of Carolynn's hand just as it went off, and threw himself on top of the girl, trying to protect her with his body. He heard the terrible roar of the shot as it fired, heard the terrific crack that resulted, heard Carolynn's scream and Vivian's yell for backup. His wrist tingled and the back of his neck was stinging. His hands felt wet. For one horrible, horrible moment Danny thought it was blood. His blood. Carolynn's. Vivian's. Oh God. His ears were ringing.

And then Carolynn was crying, and she was alive, and he was alive, and Vivian was still calling for backup, and so she was alive. And the glass of water that had been sitting next to Carolynn was shattered, and Danny grinned, because there was water on his hands.

Danny moved back and helped Carolynn up, pulling her into a hug, ignoring the trickle of blood on his neck where a piece of the glass had hit him, ignoring the wrist he'd sprained when he landed wrong. And Carolynn was still crying, and Danny thought he might be crying too, as the sobbing girl rocked in his arms and whispered, "I'm pregnant."

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Relief rushed into Sam in waves, and she was too weak to be ashamed of feeling dependent on someone else. Martin had come. He always did, her mind whispered. Why had she never noticed that before?

Martin had slammed Richard back against the wall. Richard punched him in the stomach and jerked away. The two began raining blows on each other.

Sam got unsteadily to her feet. Concentrate. _Focus, Sam. Got to focus. _She took a deep breath; it felt good. She looked around.

Martin's lip was bleeding heavily. She wanted to help him. _Come on, Sam, head in the game!_ Doing her best to ignore her pounding headache and ankle, she took one shaky step forward.

Suddenly, Martin went flying and hit the wall, hard.

Richard pulled the gun out of his pocket.

Sam slammed her fist against the side of his head, just as he had done to her. He went down, clutching at his eye.

And Sam raised her gun, which she had reclaimed from the floor where it had fallen.

Time froze. She could see Martin struggling to get up. Faintly, she could hear him yelling, "Sam! We have to bring him in!" She felt like she were in some old movie, everything was so surreal. She could see the blood on Martin's face. She could still feel the memory of her stalker's hands. She could taste the blood in her mouth. And she hurt so so much, and she was so, so angry.

"Samantha!"

Sam pulled the trigger.

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	20. Aftermath

Title: Privilege

Author: NightMage

Rating: maybe PG13, to be safe.

Summary: The team gets very, very frustrated with doctor-patient privilege! And Sam deals with a problem of her own. My very first M/S fic. Please R&R!

NOTES:

Well people, this is the second to last chapter. Yes, this is not the end! So please remember to keep going after you read this.

I do have a possible sequel in mind which will tie up some of the loose ends, like what happens to Sam now that she's shot a man, what happens to Carolynn, Cai, and their babies, and, for all you Smarties fans, what happens between Sam and Martin.

But I won't bother writing it if no one wants to read it, so tell me what you think!

I don't plan on having any author's notes on the next (the last) chapter, for effect. So I just want to thank you all now, all my readers and reviewers, you guys were my incentive to keep the story going. I started this thing over a year ago! I am really proud of this. And luv to Che, my editor, idea bouncer, encouragement, and sister. Luv to Sika, my support and my other half. Andthanks so muchto Poppy Montgomery, Eric Close, Anthony LaPaglia, Enrique Murciano, and Marianne Jean-Baptiste, cause _Without a Trace_ rocks!

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Chapter 20  
_AFTERMATH_

Samantha's mind was making her dizzy. She remembered Richard's body on the ground in front of her. She distantly remembered being proud of herself for not collapsing or fainting or becoming amnesic. She remembered refusing to follow Martin into the ambulance until she'd learned what had happened to Carolynn. And she remembered when the EMT had begun to examine her ankle.

That had been hard. She was trained to be tough, to act on logic and reason, not mental reflex the way any other trauma patient might. She knew she could have requested a female EMT to finish up, but she stubbornly refused to. She was an FBI agent. FBI agents were analytical, sensible, and rational.

But when that EMT – she refused to think of him as a paramedic, which was part of the problem – began to gently prod and poke at her ankle, she had to fight the brief jolt of sudden fear. She firmly squashed it – it was _not_ analytical, sensible, or rational, and she already felt less professional than she wanted to be.

Now she sighed, and glanced toward the closed door from her chair in the hospital room. The fan in her window clicked, and something she couldn't identify kept up a low, persistent hum. The room smelled like nothing. Now that she thought about it, most places did have some kind of smell. The office always smelled like cheap black coffee, office supplies, cologne, purpose. But this room had nothing. Not antiseptic or Pledge or death or hospital food, just nothing. It annoyed her and made her feel very out of place.

Her apartment now smelled like blood.

_That's it._ Samantha yanked her mind back to something she hoped she could control and stood up. She didn't like white walls or green plastic chairs anymore than they liked her. She was going to visit Martin.

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He glanced up when she entered the room. "Hey, college girl," he said softly, smiling.

She gave him a hesitant smile back. "Hey." She felt tall and gawky, standing over him, and occupied herself with finding a chair to avoid the awkward silence that followed their greetings. The green plastic in his room was no better than that in hers. She had a sudden urge to sit beside Martin on the bed.

She quickly dropped into the chair.

"So…" she laughed awkwardly. "I feel pretty stupid."

He sighed. "Sam –"

"No, I messed up. You were right. I - I should have told someone, or…

"Sam – "

"or figured out what was going on sooner, or –"

"Sam!"

Their eyes locked.

Samantha looked away first. "Sorry."

More awkward silence stretched out between them.

Again, Sam broke first. "I, um, I guess this is the second time you've saved my life.

"You're welcome." Martin's grin was lopsided.

Sam smiled and glanced down.

Martin cleared his throat, no longer grinning. Sam looked up to find him watching her. "What?"

"Samantha, would you… would you go out with me?

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Danny stood outside Carolynn Casper's hospital room talking to her nurse, Miss Watts, who had one of those faces that has seen too much and smiled too little. Danny, who was normally very good at reading people, was having difficulty, and he didn't like it.

"How is she?"

The nurse eyed him suspiciously. "Family?" she asked.

"No, Ma'am, FBI."

She nodded as if this was common and her expression relaxed a little. "Carolynn will be fine. She is being treated presently. She will suffer no permanent damage from the overdose."

"And the baby?"

Her mouth hardened. "It is too early yet to tell. When I get an update you will be the first to know, Mr….?"

"Taylor, and thank you."

She nodded again and walked off.

Later, when Cai burst into the waiting room, crying, Danny told her what he knew, and sat with her while she wept.

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	21. Old Memories Die Hard

_She stands deathly still. She can't seem to make her brain work. She stares distantly at the sobbing girl in front of her. The wind blows long strands of blonde hair into her face, but she is too numb to notice them._

_Not for long, though. It begins to sink in. What her supposed _friend_ did… what her husband did! She gets madder and madder, until anger turns to fury and she explodes. "What!"_

"_I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Becca is still sobbing. "I swear this wasn't supposed to happen! We were just fooling around a little, it got out of hand – "_

"_How could you? You little bitch! How could you do that to me?" Her voice breaks and she whispers, "How could he?" Married for only a month, and already…_

_"I'm sorry!" Becca turns and runs._

_She is frozen again. Deathly still. She is in a trance._

_She stands alone like that for some time._

_When she finally moves, it is a slow and detached movement. She reaches for her cell phone. Dials the number she's known her entire life. A woman answers on the fourth ring._

_She takes a deep breath. "Mom?" A pause. "I can't do this anymore." A longer pause. "I don't know. New York, maybe. Somewhere far away from here." _

_Mrs. Spade is silent. Then, "I love you."_

"_I love you, too, Mom." Samantha ends the call, turns, and walks away. She does not look back._


End file.
